Democrats pull tax cheat bill

Dems slam brakes on legislation that would force gov't and Hill staffers to pay back taxes.
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Individual Mandate in President’s Health Care Plan Apparently Violates Obama’s Tax Pledge

The Senate bill includes a financial penalty for anyone who goes without health insurance coverage for any month of the year, and if President Obama's bill does the same thing, it could violate his pledge not to raise taxes on any American making less than $250,000 per year.
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Tracking Your Taxes: Earmarks to Nowhere

Each week, Tracking Your Taxes exposes Congressional appropriations most taxpayers consider wasteful but that lawmakers claim are essential. This week we've compiled a list of projects that have received tens of millions of dollars -- and in one case nearly $2 billion -- but never got off the ground.

White House Spokesman 'Not Sure' If Obama’s Health Proposal Increases Taxes on Those Earning Less Than $250,000--And Thus Violates Obama's Tax Pledge

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said he is "not sure" if President Obama's new health care plan increases the Medicare payroll tax on people earning less than $250,000 a year -- thus violating the president's tax pledge.
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Read His Lips: Obama Calls for Increasing Payroll Taxes on ‘Households’ Earning Less Than $250,000 Per Year

President Obama has called for increasing the Medicare payroll tax for some 'households' earning less than $250,000 per year.
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McConnell: GOP may support jobs bill

UPDATED: The Senate's top Republican said Sunday that GOP lawmakers "may well" vote for a jobs bill this week. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, prefers a costlier version drafted with Republican input, and he didn't commit his support to advance the legislation on Monday to a final vote this coming week. The pending measure would provide businesses that hire the unemployed a one-year break from payroll taxes and a $1,000 tax credit if those workers stay on the job for a full year. The cost is estimated at $13 billion. The measure would extend a tax break for small ...

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States' Budget Woes Ignites Debate Over Raising Tobacco Taxes

A new report by a coalition of public health organizations says states could raise more than $9 billion in new annual revenue by increasing cigarette taxes by $1 per pack.  

Obama Says Raising Taxes Will Fix Social Security

President Barack Obama says Social Security is slowly running out of money but that it can exist well into the future with a slight fix.
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Florida's McCollum: Cut Taxes Now to End Recession

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Study: States Must Fill $1 Trillion Pension Gap

States may be forced to reduce benefits, raise taxes or slash government services to address a $1 trillion funding shortfall in public sector retirement benefits, a new study warns.

Second Tea Party Convention Planned for Vegas in July

Fresh off a convention just a few weeks ago, Tea Party organizers on Wednesday announced another national convention, and this time they're going to invade Las Vegas from July 15-17 with their message of lower taxes and smaller government.

Obama's Middle-Class Tax Pledge in Question as Deficit Challenge Looms

The Obama administration once again is stirring fears that the president may break a key campaign pledge, after he was quoted saying he is "agnostic" about raising taxes on those making less than $250,000. 

Baucus, Grassley unveil joint jobs proposal

Two senators released a draft of a bipartisan jobs proposal on Thursday that would lift some payroll taxes for newly hired workers, provide funding for highway and infrastructure projects, and extend unemployment benefits. The long-awaited proposal, which attempts to tackle the nation's 9.7 percent unemployment rate, comes from Sen. Max Baucus, Montana Democrat, who is Senate Finance Committee chairman, and Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican, who is the ranking minority member on the panel. They said they wanted the Senate to move "expeditiously" on their bill, but they warned that "any efforts that needlessly rush the process through partisan ...

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Reagan sons bicker over dad's values, 'tea parties'

It has escalated into a family feud with little chance of detente: The sons of former President Ronald Reagan are squabbling over the intellectual legacy of their father. Would Mr. Reagan have approved of the "tea party" movement with its professed love of liberty, low taxes and small government? What would he have thought of Sarah Palin? Liberal commentator Ron Reagan and his elder brother Michael Reagan, a conservative talk radio host, cannot agree on the answers. During a recent appearance on a CNN talk show, the younger Mr. Reagan suggested that the "Gipper" might have looked askance at the ...

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Reagan feud: Would the Gipper like the tea party?

It has escalated into a family feud with little chance of detente: The sons of former President Ronald Reagan are squabbling over the intellectual legacy of their father. Would Reagan have approved of the "tea party," with its professed love of liberty, low taxes and small government? And what would he have thought of Sarah Palin? Liberal commentator Ron Reagan and his older half brother, Michael Reagan, who is a conservative talk-radio host, cannot agree on it. During a recent appearance on a CNN talk show, Ron Reagan suggested that the Gipper might have looked askance at the tea party ...

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Jobs bill cuts payroll tax on new hires

Senate Democrats circulated a jobs bill Tuesday that's light on new initiatives on boosting hiring and heavy with provisions sought by lobbyists for business groups, doctors and others. The 362-page measure is still in draft form and has not been officially released. It has bipartisan backing, but few new ideas for creating jobs, other than a $10 billion plan to exempt companies from paying the employer's share of Social Security payroll taxes for new hires if they are unemployed and hired this year. The idea, by Sens. Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, and Orrin G. Hatch, Utah Republican, is ...

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Cash-strapped states avoid word 'taxes'

DENVER | Faced with severe budget shortfalls after a steep economic recession, state legislatures and governors are trying to raise money without raising taxes — at least not technically. A fee hike, an increased penalty or fine, the elimination of a tax exemption — none of these technically counts as a tax increase, as far as many state lawmakers are concerned. Fiscal conservatives argue that a tax hikes are exactly what they are, but their arguments are likely to fall on deaf ears for legislators and governors wrestling with some of the worst budget deficits since the Great Depression. "There's ...

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Obama team pitches budget on Hill

Top administration officials tried to steer President Obama's new $3.8 trillion budget through a U.S. congressional minefield on Tuesday as the day-old plan drew fire from Republicans and Democrats alike. Democrats took shots at the budget's proposed hits on some favored programs, including the elimination of NASA's manned moon flight program and Army Corps of Engineers projects. Republicans generally contended the package didn't do enough to trim deficits while increasing taxes too much. Sen. Judd Gregg, New Hampshire Republican, who is the ranking minority member of the Senate Budget Committee, said Mr. Obama's promise to freeze some domestic spending was ...

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Obama budget raises levies on firms, rich

While President Obama is proposing to cut some taxes for companies that hire workers, his proposed budget for fiscal 2011 would raise a host of other taxes on businesses and wealthy individuals. The budget proposal released Monday would extend Mr. Obama's signature "Making Work Pay" tax credit - $400 for individuals, $800 for a couple filing jointly - through 2011. But it would also impose nearly $1 trillion in higher taxes on couples making more than $250,000 and individuals making more than $200,000 by not renewing tax cuts enacted under President George W. Bush. Mr. Obama would extend Bush-era tax ...

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Obama Budget Seeks $1.1 Trillion in Tax Hikes

President would increase taxes on some businesses and wealthy individuals by a total of about $1.4 trillion over the next decade, while cutting taxes for workers and other businesses by about $330 billion.

Brown with Democrats on right to choose

Republican Sen.-elect Scott Brown of Massachusetts said Sunday he will be a reliable vote against excessive spending and higher taxes, but added that he would join Democrats in defending the right of women to choose whether to terminate a pregnancy. The man nicknamed "41" after he won a special election Jan. 19 that deprived Senate Democrats of their 60-vote supermajority said he opposes partial-birth abortion and federal funding for abortions, but does not support the repeal of the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision. "Roe v. Wade is the law of the land, but I think we need to do more ...

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Obama's $3.8 trillion budget heading to Congress

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Sunday endorsed spending an additional $100 billion to attack painfully high unemployment as it prepared to send Congress a $3.8 trillion budget that would provide billions more to pull the country out of the Great Recession while increasing taxes on the wealthy and imposing a spending freeze on many government programs. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the administration believed "somewhere in the $100 billion range" would be the appropriate amount for a new jobs measure made up of a business tax credit to encourage hiring, increased infrastructure spending and money from the government's ...

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